AI Novel Writing: How Authors Can Use AI Tools

Discover how AI is changing novel writing. Explore practical ways authors can use AI tools to boost creativity, from generating plot ideas to editing and proofreading, and understand AI's limitations in emotional depth and literary elements.

AI Novel Writing: How Authors Can Use AI Tools
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Discover how AI is changing novel writing. Explore practical ways authors can use AI tools to boost creativity, from generating plot ideas to editing and proofreading, and understand AI's limitations in emotional depth and literary elements.
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AI Novel Writing: How Authors Can Use AI Tools
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Yes, an AI can write a novel, but not entirely without the help of a human writer who can assist in refining the story, developing the characters, vividly describing the scenes, and adding emotional depth that would make the story more intriguing.
So, an AI drafts out the outlines for the chapters in the novel, generates the content for the story, develops plotlines, etc., but because AI does not understand literary elements, the book will be void of them, which would make it difficult to understand and uninteresting to read.
Even though this blog title has sparked much debate amongst writers, it still does not change the fact that an AI-generated novel will still need human intervention. In this guide, we will explore how you can use AI to write a book and the benefits and limitations of using AI to write a novel.
Ready to explore? Let’s get started!

Key Takeaways

  • AI tools can assist authors in generating content ideas, developing plotlines, and drafting chapter outlines for the novel.
  • Using an AI-powered tool to write a novel accelerates the writing process and helps authors overcome writer's block.
  • AI tools have limitations and may not give you the output you need.
  • Using AI as an assistive tool rather than an independent author is best.
  • To avoid violating copyright laws, always mention that the novel is AI-assisted if any AI tool is used.

How AI Can Write a Novel

1. Generating Ideas

To start with, AI tools will generate story ideas based on prompts. The generated content ideas would include the plot twist, story character, well-illustrated scenes, etc.
This process significantly reduces the workload for a human writer, allowing them to concentrate on the crucial aspects of book writing.

2. Assist with Settings

If you have a beautiful story idea for a novel but are stuck on how you want the settings to be, you can prompt an AI tool like Cowriter.ai to assist in creating a perfect setting for the book, and it will give you a vivid description of the time, landscapes, society or culture the story is set in

3. Improving Content

You can use AI to draft outlines for your book and then improve the chapters, scenes, dialogues, etc. That way, you have enough time to refine the story to make it feel more natural.

How Can Cowriter.ai Help?

1. Visit Cowriter.ai, click on “New Document,” and input a prompt on how you want your output to be.
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2. Cowriter.ai redirects you to a clean internal where you use the “AI command” feature to generate content, draft outlines, etc., for your book or do it manually.
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3. This is the outcome if you let Cowriter.ai do its thing. It automatically generates an outline that contains the chapters and characters that you can use to generate content for the book.
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Examples of AI-Generated Novels

AI-generated novels are gradually becoming the norm and gaining popularity, as most people enjoy reading them regardless. Here are some examples of AI-generated novels:

"1 the Road" by Ross Goodwin

This is an experimental AI-assisted novel. It was generated in 2017 when Ross Godwin traveled by road from New York to New Orleans.
He attached a neural network trained on classic literature and real-time inputs from sensors and GPS data to his car. While driving, the AI in his laptop picked up the conversations in the car and snapshots from the camera that he placed in his car trunk and turned them into words, which became this novel.

"The Day A Computer Writes A Novel"

A short story written by AI in Japan where AI told the story of itself being the protagonist.
The book received notable recognition when it passed the first round of a literary contest, showcasing AI’s ability to construct understandable novels that could compete with human-written works.

Benefits of Using AI to Write a Novel

1. Speed

Writing a novel is not an easy task; it is time-consuming and requires a lot of processes before you can get the desired result that you are looking for. However, with AI, you can speed up the entire writing process and have the content that you need for your novel generated in seconds.

2. Overcome Writer’s Block

One familiar challenge authors face is writer’s block. Sometimes, an idea is in your head, but how to put it into words could be the issue. Other times, you could be just blank on where to start and what to write about.
With AI, you can overcome your writer’s block. It will help you brainstorm ideas that will give you a fresh perspective on how to write your novel.

3. Generate Alternative Plots

Let’s say two or three characters in your novel are having a dialogue, and with the way it is headed, you are having a hard time bringing the dialogue to an end or adding more plots to it. You could use AI to generate as many endings or plotlines as you want and choose the one with the desired ending or plotlines.

4. Provide Creative Inspiration

For authors looking to write a novel but have no idea of where to start, what to write about, how to develop the characters, plot twists to use, and so on. They can use AI tools as creative inspiration to guide them and give them fresh ideas they may not have thought about on how to draft and write their novels.

5. Improve Writing Efficiency

No matter how proficient and fast you are when writing, there is a high probability that your novel may have too many grammar errors, unnecessary phrases, or inconsistent writing tones that may throw off your readers. The good news is that you can use AI to correct grammar errors and spelling mistakes, enhance your writing tone, maintain a consistent writing style, seamlessly edit your novel, etc., which in turn makes your writing as efficient as it should be.

7. Aids in Research

If you are writing a novel that requires you to carry out tons of research or fact-check the information you are sharing in your book more often, AI can help you do that effortlessly. It will not only aid in your research process but also give you up-to-date information about your search query.

Limitations of AI in Novel Writing

1. Lack of Emotional Depth

What makes a novel captivating to read is the author's ability to evoke the right emotions in the reader, pulling them deeper into the story until the very end.
An AI-generated novel lacks this ability. It is quite difficult for AI tools to relate emotional or human experiences to the reader.
This is because these AI tools are designed on a large dataset and patterns from various sources. So, even if they can generate the scenes correctly for a novel, the tone will be as bland as reading mathematical formulas, preventing readers from connecting with your story.

2. Inconsistency

One of the significant things about writing a novel is the consistency in the characters, plot, theme, dialogue, and so on.
However, you would notice significant inconsistency in the character development, plot details, themes, tone, and all-around make-up of an AI-generated novel. The inconsistency can confuse the reader and make the story unappealing to read.

3. Repetitive Storytelling

Have you ever read a novel that felt like a photocopy of another, just that they both have different book titles and probably cover designs? Well, that's what it feels like using AI to write a novel.
Since most AI tools are built on patterns from other texts or novels, they tend to repeat the exact words or storylines derived from the text they were built on.
Aside from that, you may find yourself reading repeated content multiple times in an AI-generated novel.

4. Limited Understanding of Literary Elements

What makes a story thought-provoking is the author's ability to use literary elements to convey profound meaning in a novel, which makes the novel rich and memorable to readers.
These literary elements also give the story its meaning and eventually make the novel a bestseller, which people enjoy reading and recommending.
However, using AI to write a novel can deprive the reader of the ability to enjoy reading it because most AI tools have a limited understanding of literary elements and, as such, may not be able to convey the story's more profound meaning to the reader.

5. Dependence on Human Input

While AI can generate content for your novel, the process is not entirely hands-free. The author must still refine and polish the content to achieve the desired output.
We all know that AI-generated content contains many errors, absurd phrases, and off-point sequences that must be corrected by a human writer before use.
Many AI tools are built on large databases from the work of other authors. So, using an AI tool to write or generate content for your novel can expose you to the dangers of violating copyright laws and intellectual property theft.
If you have plans to publish the novel, be sure to state that you were assisted by AI to avoid getting caught in the web of copyright infringement issues.

7. Inability to Create Content Beyond Database

AI tools are unable to generate content beyond the data on which they are trained. The quality of the data and its scope affect the output of AI-generated content.
This can affect the outcome of your novel, especially if you want to generate content with a unique narrative or structure.

Can an AI-written novel match human creativity?

There is no way an AI-written novel can match a novel written by a human writer. This is because when a human writer writes a novel, there is an infusion of personal experiences, emotions, and a thoughtful storytelling progression that makes the novel intriguing.
Unlike an AI-written novel that lacks the literary elements needed to evoke the right emotion in the reader.
You need to understand that writing a novel goes beyond putting words together in a book. There should be a logical flow of words, and the reader should be able to feel and understand the author's intent based on the type of scenes or words used.
If you intend to use AI when writing a novel, it should be an assistive tool that can help you brainstorm content ideas, draft an outline, or be your creative inspiration to streamline your novel writing process rather than an independent author.

How Writers Can Use AI as a Creative Tool

1. Brainstorming Ideas

Writers can use AI tools to brainstorm and generate content ideas for their novels, regardless of the genre. All the writer needs to do is input a prompt, instructing AI on what to do, and in a few seconds, the expected content will be generated.
Using an AI to brainstorm ideas is beneficial in many ways. It helps you overcome writer's block and serves as a creative inspiration that gives you a fresh perspective on how to write your novel.

2. Developing Characters

One of the most essential steps in writing a novel is developing characters for your story. It may seem like an easy thing to do, but that's not true.
However, AI can help you flesh out intriguing characters for your story faster. Then, you can modify it to suit what you want.

3. Story Settings

If you are looking to write a novel but cannot wrap your head around how you can create a proper setting for your story, you can use AI to make the setting you imagine.
All you need to do is turn that imagination into a prompt and input it into the AI tool, and it will generate the perfect settings for your story. You can also refine the output to suit your preference.

4. Drafting Scenes and Chapters

No matter how good a story writer you are, you may find it hard to draft or describe some scenes in your novel. You can also come up with the exact number of chapters you need in your book.
The good news is, with AI, you can draft as many scenes and chapters for your story in seconds. All you need to do is feed the AI with the right prompt.

5. Writing Dialogue

Every storywriter knows that creating dialogue is often a struggle. You want to use and maintain a conversational tone that will keep the reader hooked.
The days of struggling again are over because AI tools can generate an engaging dialogue that you can customize.

6. Expanding Descriptions

You know that moment when you want to vividly describe a scene or character but are unsure of what to write about or how to structure your words to convey the message or image you want your reader to understand?
You do not have to worry much again whenever you seem lost for words to describe a scene or character, as AI can help you add depth and a vivid description to scenes in your story.

7. Overcoming Writer’s Block

You can use AI to generate plotlines, scenes, drafts, characters, settings, or chapters for your book if you ever encounter writer’s block and feel stuck on what to write. This process is very beneficial to you, as it keeps your writing flowing without a need to halt for days because you are trying to come up with the perfect thing to say in your book.

8. Editing and Proofreading

No matter how much of a professional writer you are, grammar and spelling mistakes are inevitable. The positive news is that you do not need to hire a professional editor or proofreader, as tons of AI tools like Grammarly can help you proofread and edit your story in the language of your choice.

9. Experimenting with Style and Tone

Let’s say you want to write in a style or tone that you are new to or infuse a different style or tone in a passage of your novel. You can ask AI to generate the style or tone of choice for you, and it will do that in a few seconds regardless of whether it is humorous, poetic, etc.

10. Research Assistance

If you are at the stage of gathering information for your book, instead of ransacking your brain or reading tons of publications to get the information that you need, you can use AI as a research assistant to provide the exact information you are looking for.
Doing so can help you save time and gain fresh ideas on the type of scene or number of chapters you want in your novel.

1. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a popular, versatile AI tool developed by OpenAI that assists users in performing various tasks. It can assist with tasks ranging from writing and coding to generating images. As a writer, you can use this all-around AI-powered tool to brainstorm content ideas, draft outlines for your story, create dialogues for characters, write scenes, proofread your already-written story, etc.
The best part is that ChatGPT can help you perform all those writing tasks regardless of the genre you are writing for.

2. SudoWrite

SudoWrite is not just a popular AI tool but is designed specifically for writers. Its primary role is to help writers expand, refine, and polish their work. That means if you have a novel you have already written but are unsatisfied with the outcome, you can upload it on SudoWrite. It would help you improve your novel by either rewriting it, adding more details to scenes, making a vivid description of characters or emotions, etc.

3. Grammarly

Grammarly is a popular AI-powered tool for improving grammar, writing style, and tone. It edits and proofreads novels by checking for grammar and spelling errors, checking for plagiarism to ensure the content is original, adjusting the tone of your writing, and more.
The best part is that this tool has a clean interface, is easy to use, and integrates seamlessly with most writing platforms.

4. Jasper

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant that offers various writing templates for novels and other writing projects. It also helps users improve their ideas, scenes, and writing style.
Jasper also has a collaborative feature that enables writers working with a team on their novels to seamlessly update themselves with the latest information.

FAQs About AI Writing Novels

Can AI write a novel from start to finish?
Yes, AI can write a novel from start to finish if you input the correct prompt. However, you will need to refine and polish the content generated for your book so that it has a human touch and evokes the right emotion in the reader.
Is it ethical to publish an AI-written novel?
It depends on the platform where you plan to publish your AI-written novel. While most platforms may allow you to, others will not. Therefore, it is essential to read the rules and regulations that govern a platform for AI-generated content before publishing. Also, mention in your book that you used AI as an assistive tool to show transparency.
How much human input is needed in AI-generated novels?
As much as is required, you can use AI to assist with brainstorming, drafting, and editing while you refine the story, develop the characters, and add emotional depth.

Conclusion

While it's indisputable that AI can write a novel, it is best to use it as a collaborative tool rather than the sole author of your book. This is because AI will not be able to add emotional depth that should convey a deeper meaning and understanding of the storyline to the reader.
Best of all, AI should be used to generate ideas, draft outlines, and create plotlines and scenes for the book. And if you want an AI tool that does all for you, I recommend you use Cowriter.ai and leave positive feedback when you do.
Thanks for reading and have a blissful day ahead.

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Fredrick Eghosa

Written by

Fredrick Eghosa

AI Content Expert

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